request for electronic version

[Bluemist]

Hi,

I have had a request- one of my clients wants to buy an "electronic version" of a couple of photos I took for her...because her sister is making a calendar and wants a couple of the pics. The calendar is a ONE OFF ONE COPY for her mother.

Now I don't normally do this......does anyone do this?

If anyone does (I'm not keen to set up a istock etc) as I don't envisage this to be a ongoing thing just a one off....does any one have any advise/views....contracts?

Bluemist.

[offroadaction]

I started selling e vesions this year and I think you will see this become more popular in the future. I am seeing most of the electronic versions that I sell on customers facebook pages and websites. I am sure that some of them are printing them for personal use as well, though. Most of mine are sports and auto racing photos.

I just make sure that I sell them for a lot more money than the print copies. For example, a regular 8x10 for $17.99, a low res e version (for web, etc) for $19.99 and a hi res version for $39.99. Because a lot of clients have stated they want the pictures for their website or facebook, they buy the low res version.

The way I look at it, I make a lot more on the original e version purchase. Not many people buy 2 or 3 copies of the same picture, so I am not really loosing out on that. I guess that is probably because I do not do that many portraits.

Anyways, I say go for it. Just make sure that you price it out accordingly. If people ask why the e version is more money, explain that people that get e versions tend to print out more copies and you loose money on it. That has been my reasoning and people have been ok with it.

[Dennis_Hammer]

You can upload them into a gallery at place like exposuremanager and they can purchase them as digital files. You can set different prices for different resolutions.

Here's a link

http://www.exposuremanager.com/aff/hammerphotos

[milorad]

it may be time for the business to change, to reflect the modern use of images... actually, I think it's probably overdue.

Most photographers charge a modest sitting fee, and then rely on prints to make their money. It's probably fair to say though, that with a little experience, it's fairly easy to estimate what the total earnings might be for particular types of shoots.

I've never been a huge fan of pricing structures which get the guy there for a low price, then necessitate him holding the images hostage, until he makes "enough" to cover his work.

I don't do weddings or anything, but if you hire me, you pay a premium to get me there shooting, after which the images are licensed to you, any way you like them. After all, you did hire me to provide images, not just so you could show your friends you can afford a photographer to run around.

After all not printing them is /less/ work... just charge what you'd be making from the profit of your prints, for the actual process of shooting and editing. You might miscalculate a little, based on a particular client's propensity to order more prints 4 years from now, but you can work in a certain percentage for a margin of error, so it all becomes a wash in the end.

I thoroughly suggest giving electronic versions not as jpegs, or tiffs or something though - but as locked PDFs which can be printed, but not modified, in conjunction with low-res jpegs... if they want tiffs, charge accordingly.

[lindsayanng]

we sell electronic images two ways.. Low res for $5.00 and high res for $40.00. We chose the $5.00 because of the whole myspace/facebook thing. The people who have weddings and such give the link to the site to the photographer and when they go on and see 5 pictures of themselves that they would LOVE to have on their facebook.. spending $25.00 for 5 pictures is A LOT easier for them than spending $100.00 for them, and you will actually sell a LOT more $25 lots than $100 lots..

just my thoughts on pricing.. especially since there is NO cost to you to sell them.. Not like prints where you have printing and shipping costs. We also attach a txt file with the specific terms of use for that.. and with the high res. file they get different terms of use..

[Bluemist]

Thanks everyone...interesting about chargING more for them than non electronic.
Would you still charge the same for one time use???

[Bluemist]

snip..... We also attach a txt file with the specific terms of use for that.. and with the high res. file they get different terms of use..

What is the difference with the usage terms?